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Stacy Keibler is Reportedly Going to Eat Her Placenta...Should You?

Yet another celebrity is taking a seat with January Jones and Tamera Mowry on the eat-your-own-placenta bandwagon: Stacy Keibler. And because she's had one of the healthiest pregnancies out of all our fave celeb mamas, it's difficult to question the former pro wrestler's decision to have her placenta encapsulated, no matter how, um, disgusting it sounds.

We've already heard about this arguably gag-worthy trend that's gaining more popularity (placenta recipes are a thing), but even though many new moms swear they're healthier and happier—many claim it keeps postpartum depression at bay—and more energized because of it, there aren't any studies that prove there is actually a benefit to eating your own placenta post-childbirth. "There's a lot of folklore surrounding the practice, but there is not a lot of hard medical or scientific data in favor of or against it," says Jennifer Ashton, M.D., FITNESS advisory board member. "There are a lot of misconceptions about what its value is nutritionally. The placenta is the conduit for supplying oxygen, blood and nutrients to the fetus. But I think what most people don't realize is that it doesn't do that all by itself. It does that because it extracts those nutrients from the mother."

So why is this still trending? Some of it is cultural, but a lot of it is anecdotal, says Lauren Streicher, M.D. "Someone will say, 'After my first pregnancy I had terrible postpartum depression and then the second time I ate placenta pills and I had none.' But statistically we know that first pregnancies are far more likely to have postpartum depression than second pregnancies," she says. "Was it the placenta pills or was it just your second pregnancy? Who knows? The only way to know is to test that in 10,000 people and see if there's a real difference." But just because there isn't yet research behind it doesn't mean the benefits—and risks—don't exist. "It's a trend just like anything else, and some of those trends turn out out be based to something good and some don't," says Ashton. "I think that people need to realize that there's risk verses benefit to everything."

We want to hear from you: Would you (or have you) eat your own placenta knowing that no research has yet been done on its risks or benefits? Or are you more of a "wait and see" kind of gal?